Healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. The connection between man and his search for drugs in nature dates from the far past, of which there is ample evidence from various sources: written documents, preserved monuments, and even original plant medicines. Awareness of medicinal plants usage is a result of the many years of struggles against illnesses due to which man learned to pursue drugs in barks, seeds, fruit bodies, and other parts of the plants. Contemporary science has acknowledged their active action, and it has included in modern pharmacotherapy a range of drugs of plant origin, known by ancient civilizations and used throughout the millennia. The knowledge of the development of ideas related to the usage of medicinal plants as well as the evolution of awareness has increased the ability of pharmacists and physicians to respond to the challenges that have emerged with the spreading of professional services in facilitation of man's life.

This study aims to review the concept of biological rhythms in medicinal plants. Dictionariesgenerally define pharmacognosy as the subject of the study of crude drugs of plant and animal origin. The name is derived from the Greek words pharmakon (drug) and gnosis (knowledge). Today pharmacognosy is also defined as the study of physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances, or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin, as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources. Also, another important phenomenon to be taken care of in the production of therapeutic compounds in medicinal plants is the use of circardian clock. The circardian clock is studied by chronobiology, which can be defined as a field of science that examines periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar and lunar related rhythms. Thus, it is the scientific study of the effect of time on living systems and of biological rhythms. Also rhythmic oscillations in plants lead to the enormous production of particular compounds in plants at particular time, which may or may not produce any therapeutic effect in humans. Thus, the study of chronobiology and pharmacognosy can be put together as chronopharmacognosy

In the past 50 years, dietary fiber has become an increasingly significant area of nutritional focus, debate, and research. Advances in food production practices have resulted in more refined foods being available and consumed across the world and particularly in developed nations such as the US. While refined foods are typically more palatable to consumers, the content of dietary fiber is greatly reduced. Currently, many diseases are believed to be associated with a lack of dietary fiber intake and, furthermore, significant health benefits are thought possible via increased consumption of many dietary fibers. There is no well accepted definition for dietary fiber, but most of the references mention the inability of humans to fully digest fibers; most others say about fibers being made of various monomer units of variable length and some mention plant origin. There are many raw materials/ingredients that can increase the fiber content in foods, each with its own set of functional and sensory characteristics, including acacia gum, beta-glucan, cellulose, chitin/chitosan, corn bran, corn fiber, inulin, oat bran/oat fiber, pea fiber, pectin, polydextrose, psyllium, resistant starch, rice bran, soy fibers, wheat bran, and wheat fiber. All these fibers are unique in their functional capability for treatment of number of diseases.

A study has been conducted with the aim to provide researchers with general information on anti diabetic extracts based on relevant research articles collected from 34 reliable medical journals. The study showed that Asian and African continents have 56% and 17% share of the worldwide distribution of therapeutic herbal plants, respectively. In Asia, India and China are the leading countries in herbal plants research, and there has been an increase in medicinal research on plants extract for diabetes treatment since 1995 in these regions. The information collected shows that plant leaves are about 20% more favorable for storing active ingredients, as compared to other parts of herbal plants. A brief review on the extraction techniques for the mentioned parts is also included. Furthermore, the acting mechanisms for the anti diabetic activity were described, and the related active ingredients were identified. The findings reveal that most of the anti diabetic research is focused on the alteration of glucose metabolism to prevent diabetes.

The chemotherapeutic potential of Terminalia ferdinandiana: Phytochemistry and bioactivity

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S Mohanty, Ian E CockDOI:10.4103/0973-7847.95855 PMID:22654402

Plants contain a myriad of natural compounds which exhibit important bioactive properties. These compounds may provide alternatives to current medications and afford a significant avenue for new drug discovery. Despite this, little information is available in the literature regarding native Australian plants and their potential for medicinal and industrial uses. Recent studies have reported Terminalia ferdinandiana to be an extremely good source of antioxidants. Indeed, T. ferdinandiana has been reported to have ascorbic acid levels per gram of fruit more than 900 times higher than blueberries. T. ferdinandiana also has high levels of a variety of other antioxidants, including phenolic compounds and anthocyanins. Antioxidants have been associated with the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological degenerative disorders. They are also linked with antidiabetic bioactivities and have been associated with the reduction of obesity. Antioxidants can directly scavenge free radicals, protecting cells against oxidative stress-related damage to proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Therefore, T. ferdinandiana has potential in the treatment of a variety of diseases and disorders and its potential bioactivities warrant further investigation.

From many reports it is clear that diabetes will be one of the major diseases in the coming years. As a result there is a rapidly increasing interest in searching new medicines, or even better searching prophylactic methods. Based on a large number of chemical and pharmacological research work, numerous bioactive compounds have been found in functional herbal food ingredients for diabetes. The present paper reviews functional herbal food ingredients with regards to their anti-diabetic active principles and pharmacological test results, which are commonly used in Asian culinary system and medical system and have demonstrated clinical or/and experimental anti-diabetic effectiveness. Our idea of reviewing this article is to give more attention to these functional food ingredients as targets medicinal foods in order to prevent or slow down the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Borreira and Spermacoce are genera of Rubiaceae widespread in tropical and subtropical America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Based on its fruits morphology they are considered by many authors to be distinct genera and most others, however, prefer to combine the two taxa under the generic name Spermacoce. Whereas the discussion is still unclear, in this work they were considered as synonyms. Some species of these genera play an important role in traditional medicine in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. Some of these uses include the treatment of malaria, diarrheal and other digestive problems, skin diseases, fever, hemorrhage, urinary and respiratory infections, headache, inflammation of eye, and gums. To date, more than 60 compounds have been reported from Borreria and Spermacoce species including alkaloids, iridoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and other compounds. Studies have confirmed that extracts from Borreria and Spermacoce species as well as their isolated compounds possess diverse biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, larvicidal, antioxidant, gastrointestinal, anti-ulcer, and hepatoprotective, with alkaloids and iridoids as the major active principles. This paper briefly reviews the ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, and biological activities of some isolated compounds and extracts of both genera.

Trichosanthes , a genus of family Cucurbitaceae, is an annual or perennial herb distributed in tropical Asia and Australia. Pointed gourd (Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.) is known by a common name of parwal and is cultivated mainly as a vegetable. Juice of leaves of T. dioica is used as tonic, febrifuge, in edema, alopecia, and in subacute cases of enlargement of liver. In Charaka Samhita, leaves and fruits find mention for treating alcoholism and jaundice. A lot of pharmacological work has been scientifically carried out on various parts of T. dioica, but some other traditionally important therapeutical uses are also remaining to proof till now scientifically. According to Ayurveda, leaves of the plant are used as antipyretic, diuretic, cardiotonic, laxative, antiulcer, etc. The various chemical constituents present in T. dioica are vitamin A, vitamin C, tannins, saponins, alkaloids, mixture of noval peptides, proteins tetra and pentacyclic triterpenes, etc.

Medicinal plants are widely being used by the traditional medical practitioners for curing various diseases in their day-to-day practice. Biophytum sensitivum DC (Oxalidaceae) is used as a traditional folk medicine in ailments such as inflammation, arthritis, wounds, tumors and burns, gonorrhea, stomach ache, asthma, cough, degenerative joint disease, urinary calculi, diabetes, snake bite, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea. It is a small, flowering, annual herb with sensitive leaves. It grows throughout tropical Africa and Asia, especially in Philippines and the hotter parts of India and Nepal. Phytochemical studies have shown that the major pharmacologically active constituents are amentoflavone and a polysaccharide fraction, BP100 III. Recent pharmacological study shows that it has antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, chemoprotective, antidiabetic and wound healing potential. This review attempts to describe the ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, traditional uses, chemical constituents, and various pharmacologic activities and other aspects of B. sensitivum.

The genus Subergorgia (coelenterata, Gorgonacea, Subergorgiidae) is distributed in the Indo-pacific region. Previous investigations on the various species of the genus have revealed the presence of a number of new compounds including alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, and steroids. Certain biological activities particularly cytotoxic activity have been observed for the isolated constituents and compositions derived from the coral. This review covers the secondary metabolites reported from the genus Subergorgia and their biological properties.